King living at the time of Divided Monarchy
Ahaz, son of Jotham, reigned as king of Judah for 16 years.
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Also known as Achaz
Ahaz was the son of Jotham and the eleventh king of Judah. He reigned for 16 years in Jerusalem, beginning at the age of 20. Ahaz did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but followed the ways of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering and sacrificed to idols on the high places. (2Ki.16.1-4; 2Ch.28.1-4)
During his reign, Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, attacked Jerusalem but could not conquer it. (2Ki.16.5; Isa.7.1) The prophet Isaiah encouraged Ahaz to trust in the Lord, but Ahaz instead sought help from Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, offering him tribute. (2Ki.16.7-9; Isa.7.3-12).
Ahaz adopted pagan practices, including building a new altar based on a design from Damascus and offering sacrifices on it. He cut up the temple articles and closed the doors of the Lord's temple. (2Ki.16.10-18; 2Ch.28.24) Ahaz faced military defeats and became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord. (2Ch.28.5-8,16-25).
Hezekiah, Ahaz's son, succeeded him as king. Hezekiah repaired and purified the temple, which had been neglected during Ahaz's reign. (2Ch.29.3-19) The reign of Ahaz was marked by idolatry and unfaithfulness to God, leading to political turmoil and religious decline in Judah. (2Ki.16.2-4; 2Ch.28.1-4,22-25).
Part of: Kings, prophets and the house of David
Isaiah met Ahaz, threatened by Aram and Israel, and offered a sign; Ahaz declined and relied on Assyria. The prophecy of the virgin/young woman bearing Immanuel followed. Ahaz's son Hezekiah later reversed his father's policy.
Sources: Isa 7:1-9 · Isa 7:10-14 · 2 Kgs 16:7-9
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(possessor), eleventh king of Judah, son of Jotham, reigned 741-726, about sixteen years. At the time of his accession, Rezin king of Damascus and Pekah king of Israel had recently formed a league against Judah, and they proceeded to lay siege to Jerusalem. Upon this Isaiah hastened to give advice and encouragement to Ahaz, and the allies failed in their attack on Jerusalem. Isai 7,8,9. But, the allies inflicted a most severe injury on Judah by the capture of Elath, a flourishing port on the Red Sea, while the Philistines invaded the west and south. 2Kin 16; 2Chr 28. Ahaz, having forfeited God’s favor by his wickedness, sought deliverance from these numerous troubles by appealing to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, who forced him from his most formidable enemies. But Ahaz had to purchase this help at a costly price; he became tributary to Tiglath-pileser. He was weak, a gross idolater, and sought safety in heathen ceremonies, making his son pass through the fire to Molech, consulting wizards and necromancers. (Isaiah 8:19) and other idolatrous practices. (2 Kings 23:12) His only service of permanent value was the introduction of the sun-dial. He died at the age of 36, but was refused a burial with the kings his ancestors. (2 Chronicles 28:27)
A'HAZ (possessor). 1. Eleventh king of Judah, son of Jotham, whom he succeeded. 2 Kgs 16:2; 2 Chr 28:1. He reigned sixteen years,b. c. 742-726. He was a gross idolater, and even sacrificed his children to the gods. He remodelled the temple to fit it for idolatrous rites. He kept chariot-horses dedicated to the sun. This course brought upon him and his kingdom severe judgments. God made them to flee before their enemies. Their allies often proved un
faithful, and involved them in great distress. Early in his reign,probably the second year, Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, king of Syria, who, just at the close of Jotham's reign, had confederated for the destruction of Judah, invaded the kingdom with a powerful army and laid siege to Jerusalem. Isaiah foretold their overthrow and inspired the king. Isa 7. But the allies, though defeated at Jerusalem, captured Elath, wasted Judah, and carried 200,000 into captivity; the prophet Oded caused these to be restored. Ahaz in his extremity made a league with Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, who freed him from his enemies, but at the cost of the Judaic kingdom, which became tributary, and Ahaz sent him all the treasures of the temple and his palace, and appeared before him in Damascus as a vassal. Neglecting the warnings of Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, he ran to even greater excesses in idolatry, and indeed so lowered himself in the popular esteem that when he died he was refused a burial with his royal ancestors. 2 Chr 28:27. His only permanent service to his people was the introduction of the sun-dial, which was probably connected with the Assyrian astrology and necromancy.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
37 verses in 7 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0271
And Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David his father. And his son Ahaz reigned in his place.
In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah.
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. And unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God.
Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Aram and Israel, who are rising up against me.”
Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the kingʼs palace, and he sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria.
Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction.
And Uriah the priest built the altar according to all the instructions King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, and he completed it before King Ahaz had returned.
Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the kingʼs burnt offering and grain offering, as well as the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings of all the people of the land. Sprlatter on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar to seek guidance.”
So Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had commanded.
King Ahaz also cut off the frames of the movable stands and removed the bronze basin from each of them. He took down the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone base.
As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David, and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.
In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years.
In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.
So Isaiah the prophet called out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz.
He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.
Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,
And Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And his son Ahaz reigned in his place.
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. And unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD.
At that time King Ahaz sent for help from the king of Assyria.
For the LORD humbled Judah because Ahaz king of Israel had thrown off restraint in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD.
Although Ahaz had taken a portion from the house of the LORD, from the royal palace, and from the princes and had presented it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.
In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.
Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the LORD, and set up altars of his own on every street corner in Jerusalem.
And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.
Moreover, we have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz in his unfaithfulness cast aside during his reign. They are now in front of the altar of the LORD.”
This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.
Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Laundererʼs Field,
Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying,
But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test the LORD.”
In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
I will make the sunʼs shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
This is the word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel.
This is the word of the LORD that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem:
Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.